hello all. my system started in 1992 with a set of al-III ribbons and a set of tfm 55 amps to run them. bought a pioneer cld-704 laserdisc player as well. i used a sonic frontier tube hybrid preamp for the longest time, then changed over to a pioneer 1014 reciever for a h/t setup. as a side note, my first preamp was a carver ct-29, but it had a hum from hell in the surround channels, so i quickly sold it after a small period of time then went to the sonic frontier. at that time, i got a tfm 35 to run 4-12" woofers in m&k style boxes and then i added a tfm 15 for some rear fill speakers. many years passed and i finally got another set of al-III's that were puchased when i bought my set, as i sold another set to a friend. well i now have that set as well. a couple of years ago, my tfm 15 crapped out after a few years when switched to a theater setup with the 15 on the center channel, and i got a second tfm35 to run the center. so now, i have two 55's running the ribbons, and a 35 on center and another 35 on subs. last year, as i was swapping some cables around and foolishly forgot to turn off the amp and one of the 55's rca's grounded out on the chassis and fried something. it is going out this week for refurbishment to hi-tech. then the other amps will follow as well. the next thing on my list is a set of 60" ribbons to make a custom center channel to match up with the al-III's with yet another 55 to be purchased. here are some photo's of where it stands now:

HOLY SHIT, you have seven speakers ganged for a center channel??!? In series or parallel or combo?

Do I see AL-IIIs for surround as well or do my eyes deceive me?

Are you running the 55s bridged or bi-amping the AL-IIIs with them?

I like the built-in; did you do that yourself? Nice adjustable racks.

If you are able to pull the AL-IIIs in to the room a little (edge of the fireplace bricks & toward listening position), you'll be rewarded with much better imaging....they don't like being tucked in a corner. That would probably screw your access to the door, though....

helicopterpilotdoug wrote:\:D/ Welcome! Nice set up The built in rack is very nice. It adds a lot more space to the room. Do you have fans in there for cooling?

I was noticing, you might want to remove the CD's/movies sitting on top of the amp, it's covering the vents! And I agree, cool looking set-up. Can you access the back of the built-in? I liked the cat too!

hey guys, thanks for the compliments. first, yes they do sound better forward and in for sure, but that is a wife trade off. the center channel is series/parallel for the 8" three ways and the polk and horn get power from the reciever for late night viewing at lower db's, while the six 3ways get power at the moment from 1/2 of a tfm35 and the 4-12" get the other half of the 35. also at the moment, i just sent off my second tfm55 to roland for repair as i forgot to turn it off and the rca cable end touched the chassis and messed up a channel. so for now, the pioneer reciever does the surround ribbons. way back when i first got the ribbons, i had each 55 bridged on each ribbon and a 35 on 8-12" in m&k(gave 4-12's to my brother goerge many years ago) style boxes with another 35 on a couch sub that had 2-15" woofers tuned to 20hz. picture in your minds a tall, long, skinny box covered in black formica that was behind the couch with 15cf of air space, with 4 ports in between the woofers firing up. it was insane, and i wish i had pictures of it. totally not very wife friendly, so i gave it to my brother, who in turn finally gave it away as well. now, all the wires are accessable from behind in the bathroom and the speaker wires run under the house to their places next the the speakers. a total of 250' of 8 gauge wire in red and black from rockford fosgate. the cooling/venting comes from a the a/c intake is below the cabinet, so with a car air filter i have a suction of sorts to help with heat. pictures of that soon. the projector screen is made by me as well as the stereo rack. the center channel is next as well as another tfm55 to run it and maybe another speaker for center rear for the 6.1 surround. the cd's that you see stacked on top of the tfm15 amp is no big deal as the amp is dead. one day it started putting out a 1k pure tone at top volume, so i only have it there for looks, and my other tfm35 is at the family restaurant bar doing sub duty there until i find a replacement for it. so if anyone near south carolina has a set of al-III ribbons in golden oak with tone controls, whole, parts, whatever, i am interested. also need that third tfm55. i would love a set of 60" ribbons, the oak panels from a set of al-III for that custom center channel as well. i have been toying with the idea of going to carverfest10 with the wife. it's not too long of a drive, more money than i care to spend as i am a cheap ass until it is something i like, but the time off from work is kinda tough. is bob coming to this get together? that would be the push for me. anyway, cheers, angelo.

ok, here are some more photo's. the other thing is the wood shelfs are gonna be swaped out with 1/4" tinted glass soon as well. also need another high amp relay so the amps come on with the reciever. i would say that a monster cable conditioner is in my far future for that aspect, say the 4000 or so.

yes, the speaker wires are 8 gauge. a total of 250' feet of each color for the entire system. the power strip came from a bank that was rewired/remodeled by a freind. and then the other side of the cabinet i have a 10g wire going to the four heavy duty outlets that has a relay to turn on the amps. relay died last year though, and i have not replaced it yet. it is nice to have the reciver turn on all the amps. the main fuse panel/ breaker box is about a foot and a half away. no more than a total of 4 feet for either ac outlets with 30 amp breakers on each side of the 240 main input buss.

That is a cool set up accessing everything from the back. It looks like you put a lot of though into your wiring layout. I wonder if when you have friends over using your bathroom if they wonder; ummm, wonder what is behind that panel? Holly shit! LOL

Jag_97470 wrote:That is a cool set up accessing everything from the back. It looks like you put a lot of though into your wiring layout. I wonder if when you have friends over using your bathroom if they wonder; ummm, wonder what is behind that panel? Holly shit! LOL

thank you for the kind words guys, i appreciate it greatly. in the photo with the al-III's for surround, there is a cabinet that i made to hold all the stereo stuff. it was such a pain to move around and do anykind of wiring. so, long ago i told my wife that i would just cut a hole in the wall to get rid of the rack. in my last house, there was two sets of doors that went into the kitchen that were side by side. and i used one to axcess the rack from behind and loved the ease of wiring. as a matter of fact, i think the wiring is kinda sloppy at the moment, and will clean it up soon. i just get lazy when it comes to making custom length rca's. but sooner than later i will get it done. the other thing that i miss is the 18" 6cf ported subs that i had in the late eighties. i think i will make a custom box to go in the fire place to hold two 18"'s in a ported box and retire the 4-12's in the sealed m&k boxes. after the custom center channel though.....

Hum - 1992 you say, Well that was a good year to start! I started in the Mid 80's. Lots of nice goodies in those pictures and I bet it all sounds GREAT!!! Thanks for sharing your story and the Pictures.

BillD, You will be forever with us! RIP until we meet again on the other side...